Vol. 568 No. 1
341 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Education and Science the way in which a person (details supplied) in County Galway who has trained as a special needs assistant for national schools, can obtain employment; if such posts are recruited through his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15469/03]
Special needs assistant posts are allocated by my Department to primary schools where the professionally assessed needs of a child or children involved are such as to require the delivery of such support.
It is then a matter for the board of management to recruit a suitable person based on certain criteria as laid down by my Department. The minimum educational qualification required by my Department for special needs assistants is a grade D, or pass, in Irish, English and mathematics in the junior certificate examination, in the day vocational certificate examination or in an examination of equivalent standard.
